Christmas Basket Fillers
If you are looking for an opportunity to give back to the community, the Lindsborg Christmas Basket Committee needs sorters and fillers for the baskets. This year they are asking our group to do it. If you think you can do this, please let Mona know, or we will find another group to do it.The tentative date for it is December 13, 2006. More details coming soon! Thank you!
Ways to Save Money
by Sandy Simmons
Most articles on maximizing your food dollars focus on buying food in bulk, buying food at warehouses, stocking up at sales and related tips. The theme is to always buy as much food as possible for the least amount of money. These tips do work, especially if you have a large family. However, one often overlooked aspect of saving money on food is to buy just the amount your family needs and avoid any waste.
A concluded that American households dump $43 billion worth of food a year. This is approximately 14 percent of the food brought into the home, not including plate scrapings.
This amounted to $590 worth of meat, fruits, vegetables and grain products being discarded per household annually. Over a ten year period, that amounts $5,900! If that money had been invested each year instead of being wasted on uneaten food, the ten year amount of potential dollar savings would have been even greater.
If you think you could use an extra $5,900 ten years from now, here are some tips to get you started on preventing food waste. For more information, visit the Always Frugal web site for additional ideas on .
1. Always go to the store with a list
and plan your meals carefully. Note that in general, the longer of a period you have to buy for, the more difficult it becomes to accurately estimate how much food your family will eat.
2. If you want to save time on grocery shopping, then going just once a week is a good idea. If you want to save money on food waste and you haven't got your meal planning skills down to a science, try just shopping for a day or two in advance. As you get better at meal planning, you will be able to plan and buy foods more efficiently for longer periods.
2. Have periodic nights designated as "leftover nights". Keep some staples on hand like pasta, spaghetti sauce, frozen ground beef and frozen broccoli in case you end up not having enough leftovers to make a complete meal.
3. Check the refrigerator each day, and eat or freeze anything that is nearing the end of its safe storage period.
4. Rotate your canned and boxed goods frequently so that the products in the back don't get forgotten about before they get too old to eat.
5. Periodically use up all of the food in your freezer. Then restock it with food from warehouse and discount food stores.
6. Don't just plan your shopping list, but
6. Don't just plan your shopping list, but plan when you are going to have time to make the food you are buying as well. Be realistic about how much time you really have in your schedule for cooking. One of the problems found in the University of Arizona study was that people would have good intentions at the grocery store and buy fresh produce, but then would not have time to prepare it. As a result, they wound up eating convenience foods instead and throwing out the produce, thus paying for a lot of food that went to waste.
7. If you also find yourself throwing out a lot of fresh foods due to a lack of preparation time, it may be better to be more realistic about your schedule when planning meals. Buy frozen produce and meats instead of fresh, and then if you don't have time to cook, the frozen foods will not readily spoil. You can also try buying fruits and vegetables with longer storage lives. Produce items that generally have a storage life of a week or more (when stored under optimal conditions) include apples, oranges, lemons limes, onions, winter squash, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and turnips.
bravenet.com